The Fading Past
by Bonappetite9
Summary: During the Jedi-Sith War, one of the greatest masters of the Jedi Order attempts to save his two padawan from the dark side. Evil is punished, but at what cost?
1. Prologue

Prologue

 **1:** Manaan, a world covered in water. Its cities sit atop its surface, gulls cawing above them. An industrialized world, the bipedal hominids known as Selkath live out their daily lives under Republic dominion. There was a time only Ahto City stood over the water, but that was two thousand years ago during the Jedi Civil War. Now, during the Jedi-Sith War, Manaan has evolved into an interconnected series of metropolitan cities fed by the lucrative nature of culture and trade. Lying in the Mid Rim close to another industrialized Republic world called Onderon, the Selkath have not felt the need for fear of the Sith because of their general distance from the ongoing military conflict. Their comfort has assured their loyalty, and the continued supply of the medicinal commodity kolto to the war effort.

Kolto is a liquid produced in the underwater reefs of Manaan, used for the purpose of healing wounds and preventing death in the case of critical injuries. Bacta, a healing resource from Thyferra in the Inner Rim, is more common than kolto in Republic space because of its higher quality. Lower in quality or not, medicine of any quality remains in constant demand. The fact the Jedi-Sith War has been going on for decades without an end in sight means medicine will remain a strategically important resource. Kolto saves millions of soldiers every year for the Republic, but that is about to change. A Sith invasion places the security of the comfortable people of Manaan in jeopardy.

Unprepared, the Republic military scrambles to coordinate a defense. They call neighboring Onderon for help, but their reinforcements arrived too late with too few men. While they arrived in orbit, scanners detected Sith transport craft were already making runs back and forth between the fleet and the planet surface. The invasion had already begun; the Onderon fleet in no way matched the size or firepower of the Sith fleet. The Manaan fleet had been destroyed, and while their combined efforts could have staved off the attack, on their own neither has a chance. The Onderon fleet decided to retreat, calling to all other Republic systems to send aid as quickly as possible. It never arrived, the war having turned against the Republic in a series of surprise attacks coordinated across the galaxy. With no one to help the Republic government on Manaan, it fell to the Sith and their Allied Systems.

At least in this iteration of the Jedi-Sith War, the Republic works in conjunction with the Jedi in military matters, but not intergalactic policy. The Sith coordinate the military effort while governing a few specific planets, but most of their conquered territory is self-governed as a collective called the Allied Systems. Each system manages their own policies, while remaining loyal to the Sith military. This does not include foreign or trade policy, however, much to the inconvenience of members of the Allied Systems who need resources from Republic or Hutt space. Some joined the Sith willingly, others out of a desire for self-preservation, a few looking to sabotage their neighbors, and most to avoid Sith invasion. The Sith control these systems through fear, but once they lose their strength many of these systems will no doubt turn against them.

Before the invasion of Manaan, Ishka (human, girl, 5) lived with both her parents in the inner, underground portion of the city Sesue. They worked odd jobs to make a living and had to make sacrifices to avoid poverty. These early experiences ensured Ishka grew up financially insecure, feeling partially responsible as if she wasn't doing everything she could to help her family. She had friends who taught her how to steal from the local produce market, and how to outrun the police. Emen (human, boy, 6) lived with his uncle and aunt towards the surface. The uncle and aunt worked despite being of age for retirement to continue paying for elderly care treatment for Emen's grandmother. He grew up critical of the fact his guardians worked their whole lives for very little, taking care of their grandmother when they could hardly care for themselves. Without anyone to talk to about these problems, Emen struggled to cope.

The invasion disrupted the course of their lives permanently, but neither child fully understood the implications of abandoning their homes. They expected they would return someday. Ishka's father took her to a refugee camp separated from the rest of Sesue. Emen's family urged him to meet them at a certain transport station, but they never arrived. His aunt and uncle would have gone with him if they didn't have to pick up his grandmother from a nursing care facility. Once it became clear emergency shuttles weren't stopping at the station anymore, the moon creeping over the waters of Manaan, Emen realized he had to escape on foot. Everyone he knew, as far as he could tell, died that night.

Alone among thousands of strangers and other lost children, Emen had no one to protect him for those first couple days. After passing by this malnourished kid a few times, since they lived in the same sector of the camp, Ishka's father could not help but offer him some of their rations. Emen didn't have any for himself; without proper paperwork connecting him to a legal residency there was no way for him to qualify as a citizen of Manaan. Refugees from other worlds, illegal immigrants, and persons lacking their documentation all starved in the camp. Ishka and her father continued to support Emen, despite the detriment he presented to their own survival by eating a third of their food. While Ishka's father was not an extraordinarily compassionate man, he did see Emen as an innocent victim of a terrible situation. While he could not and did not wish to help everyone, the visibility of Emen's hunger to him made the issue impossible to ignore.

While Emen lacked skills that would help his new friends, he developed new ones along the way. He would steal food with Ishka or create a distraction that allowed her the time to obtain something more precious like a pair of shoes. A couple more days passed, and the camp fell into disrepair as the morale of its employees began to diminish. A seemingly endless stream of refugees arrived on boats from nearby cities and crawled out from the ruins of Sesue. The food supply stretched thin, lawlessness overtook the already precarious sense of order in the camp. The refugees tried to maintain a sense of hope, but some began to panic. The Sith army, having defeated the weaker Republic army stationed in Sesue, drew closer. Anyone with good sense, including the guards stationed at the camp, began to evacuate. Holding twenty thousand people, they could not evacuate quickly enough.

The camp is a module attached to the city, inside it yet separated by a bridge and a series of maintenance tunnels. Refugees scattered through the tunnels, maintenance shafts, plumbing, city officials were drawing up blueprints of every escape route as the Sith arrived. They commenced a slaughter; many tried to run but most died or got arrested. Ishka couldn't find Emen or her father but escapes by swimming from the camp to the city ruins. Emen thought he saw her father looking for Ishka, but before they could reunite he was swept up with the movement of a panicked crowd. They jammed their way through the maintenance tunnels, wherein Emen separates himself from the mob in one of its darkest recesses with no experience of the area to guide him to escape.

At night the two children slept hungry, one drenched in saltwater and the other in complete darkness. The next morning, Emen escaped the tunnels by smelling for which entrances had stale or fresh air. Ishka spent her time navigating the ruins, looking for a path to double back to the refugee camp. She wanted to find her father but reunited with Emen among the ruined city instead. Both were surprised to see each other again, a silver-lining achieved despite the suffering they endured. They miss their families and stick together out of a need to stay attached to the past no matter how distant it has become. They continue looking for Ishka's father that day, but have to give up to avoid being found.

Two weeks passed, dark jedi continually searching for and giving chase to the children. Why they chased, how they knew where the kids were, Emen and Ishka don't understand. While searching for food one morning, a sith master tracked them down. A jedi master, Ansu 'navu Bes, Twi'lek (male, age 41, blue skin), senses the attack while on a completely different mission. He was sent to Manaan to safeguard any padawan or master still alive but instead discovers these two children who happen to be force-sensitive. Master Bes believed their meeting an act of fate, coming upon children who otherwise would have been captured then indoctrinated into the ways of the Sith. Despite having not found any of the jedi stationed in Sesue alive, Master Bes considers his mission a success. He gets them to his small cargo craft; without ever learning the fate of their families, Emen and Ishka leave Manaan.

 **2.** Master Bes takes them to Coruscant, along the way doing his best to help these traumatized children manage the stress of losing their previous lives. Coruscant is the capital world of the Republic government, located in the Core World sector. The planet is one sprawling, multilayered, interconnected city covering the surface. The Jedi Temple for the Grand Council sits in the same region of the planet as the Republic Senate podium and the Republic Military Bureau, all of which necessary in coordinating the war.

During this period, in which war has become the norm, jedi are just as much part of the military as they are members of a politically ambiguous religious practice. Just because the Jedi Order prefers to not pick sides in politics, however, it does not mean individual jedi do not invest themselves in politics much to the dismay of the Grand Council. Jedi are the shamanistic spiritual defenders of the Republic, and the traditional enemy of the Sith. Capable of extraordinary powers by tapping into the Force, both sides teach different paths on how to manipulate the Force. Jedi prefer to think of themselves as guardians of the light, compassionate side of the Force while Sith claim the dominating aspects known as the dark side.

The most experienced jedi masters make up the Grand Council, an advisory board for Jedi Councils in other Republic systems. Master Bes wants to train Ishka and Emen, but the psychological damage they experienced may compromise their future. Grand Master Veshei (reptilian, age 56, teal scales), leader of the Grand Council, gives Master Bes permission to train these children. Master Bes is one of the most exceptional Jedi in the Order. Director of Republic special operations at the age of 33, at 39 he was offered a seat on the Jedi Council on Dantooine. He refused out of respect for his responsibilities within the Republic military, and their bureaucratic political factions. If anyone can teach these two children it's him, at the age of 41. Considered an expert in both lightsaber and defensive Force powers, balanced in his emotions, a matchless agent and politician, Master Bes is the full package. If he proves incapable of controlling them, they will reinstate the one padawan rule in which either Emen or Ishka will partner with a different master.

 **3.** Twelve years pass, during which Ishka (17) and Emen (18) have become exceptional padawan. Master Bes (age 53) teaches them everything he knows about the Force, the jedi code, their responsibilities as military officers, and his personal political leanings within the Republic. Involvement in politics is frowned upon by the Jedi Order, but many like Master Bes see his involvement as unavoidable.

When he was a padawan, Bes wanted to join the Grand Council. As he learned more about the Sith from his own master, he realized their teachings should not remain hidden from Jedi. Corruption within bureaucracy on more than one occasion helped Master Bes succeed in his missions in Special Operations. Informal connections with Republic and Sith employees, politicians, and military helped strengthen his spy networks across the galaxy. He killed hundreds, eroded governments, and built new ones in the name of Republic and Jedi. The Order accepts this morally grey character as a teacher because of his immaculate record and political influence. Otherwise, he would've been forced into exile long ago. For these scarred children, they believed no other jedi could help them. As a representation of the forces that shaped their past, Bes could be a guideline by which to navigate their future. He feels suited for the tedious, repetitive nature of training his padawan. He strengthens their understanding of a complicated, self-harming galaxy as best he can.

 **4.** The next 6 Months: The trio, having succeeded in multiple missions within the safety of the Core Worlds sector, receive their first mission pertinent to the war effort. They travel to the Outer Rim world of Rodia to prevent a social uprising against the established Republic faction. It's a world covered in rainforest, its biome so invasive that cities need a clear, domed structure surrounding it to keep the wildlife and foliage out. On arrival, the trio bear witness to a revolution in support of the Sith and Allied Systems. Republic and Sith agents, both Force sensitive and non-sensitive, work around the clock to discredit each side as betraying the interests of the people.

The Jedi and Sith have made it their mission to kill their less publicly visible members and sabotage each other. Master Bes finds himself against the interests of his own side as he notices the Republic agents have only exacerbated an already unstable situation. Both padawan learn the Republic is not always the good guy, that like any other government it serves its own interests sometimes at the expense of the people. The Rodian government are locked in an unfavorable set of conditions with the Republic, who can't protect this system due to its distance from the Core Worlds. Almost all worlds in the Outer Rim are open to Sith attack, more exposed than the Inner Rim at least. There hasn't been a threat against the Inner Rim since the attacks on Manaan and Onderon twelve years ago, but the Outer Rim has experienced constant military conflict for decades. Despite the odds stacked against him, Master Bes succeeds in bringing stability to Rodia without any bloodshed on his part. A few members of the government looking to overthrow it were arrested, and Master Bes promised that he will petition for Rodia to become a neutral system outside of direct Republic control. His friends in the Republic Senate will no doubt back up this proposition, since they would rather lose a system to neutrality than gain another enemy sided with the Sith. Whether Rodia joins the Sith becomes officially the concern of Rodians, not of the Republic. Emen and Ishka take this as a lesson for how to overpower the enemy without shedding blood.

 **5.** Next 2 months: The consistent raiding by the Sith of Outer Rim trade routes has left the Grand Council with an ever-increasing concern for the sector. As a result, the Grand Council assigns the trio to a garrison with the Jedi Council on Dantooine, a farming world in the Outer Rim. After learning some names, Bes tracks down odd jobs to afford themselves an unassuming apartment in a town near the capital city. For a while their lives turn to small hobbies, and they tend to each other emotionally. Padawan Emen and Ishka have fought many a dark jedi and killed several people at this point during their missions in the Inner Rim, many of which intended as simple missions which end up blowing out of proportion. Master Bes works with them to provide closure, to understand their shared pain. It doesn't go away though, it seems there is nowhere in the galaxy safe from the influence of the Sith.


	2. Part 1: Trying Times

Part 1: Trying Times

 **1.** The Sith attack Dantooine, and the Jedi defend their town from the Sith invasion. Once they receive a retreat order, the jedi leave for the capital where escape shuttles with other jedi and high-ranking officials depart the planet surface. In a matter of hours, the inexperienced Republic garrison made up of Dantooine farmers lose control of the capital. A small Republic fleet orbits around the planet, space shuttles traveling back and forth with as many essential personnel as possible. The Sith fleet, too busy supplying soldiers to the planet, does not stop the Republic fleet from launching into hyperspace. Without the time to plot a course toward Republic space, the fleet takes their chances in the uncharted regions hoping only a contingent of the invading Sith fleet will follow.

 **2.** After following the Republic fleet, the Sith engages them in orbit around an unknown world in uncharted space. Master Bes and Padawan defend their frigate against boarding parties made up of dark jedi and sith soldiers. Padawan Ishka enhances the fighting capabilities of her allies by channeling her Force energy into a unique ability called battle meditation. This ability provides unbreakable morale, faster thinking, and superior reflexes to the subject. She used this same technique to strengthen the Republic garrison on Dantooine. Padawan Emen has become an excellent swordsman and strategist; Padawan Ishka uses even basic Force abilities at a higher level of expertise than Emen. Halves of a whole, they make a great team.

During the fight, the Padawan make their way to an escape pod. Master Bes doesn't want Padawan Ishka captured; her battle meditation is too important in boosting the Republic war effort. Almost nonstop, she used her talent to aid the Republic across the galaxy during their stay on Dantooine, Rodia, all the way back to the age of 12. Using battle meditation requires resting to a meditative state however; she can't clear her mind while the ship is being attacked. Once inside an escape pod, they jettison from the frigate toward the planet surface.

 **3.** Over the course of two days: The Padawan crash land on the unknown world, a planet of forests, oceans, and old ruins. As the dust settled from the crash, they could still sense each other in the wreckage. To share a psychic link like theirs meant total awareness of their thoughts, feelings, and stress. They try to contact Master Bes via psychic repour, but he doesn't respond. They still sense his energy, probably busy with the fight aboard the frigate. The Padawan leave the pod, venturing through a forest until they reach a beachhead. Looming in the distance, deeper into the forest lay a ruined temple.

At night, they hid in the open hallways of the temple, erected next to a ruined town. In the humid weather, rain continued to drench the ruins through the night. Emen and Ishka pick up a Force energy below them late at night. A Sith Master hiding in the ruins, dormant until now. They never felt a negative Force energy as powerful as this. They note how the energy comes from deep underground, that a tunnel network must lie underneath the temple. Padawan Ishka and Emen can't contact Master Bes or even feel his energy; they feel nothing except dark energy from the Sith. They assume the worst: Master Bes died in the fighting, and the dark energy they sense is coming for them.

After abandoning the temple, they head for the deep forest. At the time, it seemed the best option; they can't outfight the master, but maybe they could evade him until Master Bes came. The Padawan can't match the pace of the Sith Master however, even when accelerating their speed through the Force. Flying above the trees, the Sith plummets down on Padawan Emen about a half mile from the ocean. Padawan Ishka keeps running, Emen's pain ripping through her with every step. At the shore, a dozen yellow humanoid water serpents with crossbows and spears approach her from the water. Completely shocked, she threatens them with her lightsaber. One talks in Ishka's head, asking to touch Ishka's arm. Once making contact, the serpent pulls the cloud out from over Ishka's mind. From outside the trap of a Sith Master, even Force sensitives like the water serpents when properly trained can wear down a psychic veil. Now sensing the Force in every serpent, in Emen, in Master Bes, Ishka's mind clears for a moment. Then Emen's pain hits her again, she buckles. Serpents feed their energy to her by touching her arm; she uses it to heal herself and send a message to Master Bes.

Aboard the frigate on the command deck, Master Bes can't feel Padawan Emen's energy. The Padawan is still under the psychic cloud of the Sith Master. After not sensing Ishka's energy either, Bes is shocked to pick up her emotional presence so intensely. She says Padawan Emen is dying, that a Sith Master came after them. While the Sith Master has not arrived, Padawan Ishka feels his approach. It's raining hard enough that Padawan Ishka dares not use her lightning ability, but she will as a last resort. She can barely sense Emen, who somewhere in the forest lies close to death. Flesh ripped open, dropped from above onto the forest floor, the Sith Master did not wish to kill him. He saw inspiring fear in Ishka as the best option before commencing his plan. No lightsaber, the hands of the Sith Master are firm as talons. Images flashed in Ishka's mind, fear from Emen's consciousness boiling over into hers. Her psychic link with Emen worked against them not only through physical pain but emotional codependence. The serpents try to help Ishka fight the Sith Master, but it cuts through their numbers with ease. They have no choice but to retreat into the ocean, Ishka strikes the Sith Master with lightning but he absorbs its energy. He sucks some life force out of Ishka to satisfy himself, then spirits her beneath the Sith ruins.

A half hour later, Master Bes lands on the planet with a group of soldiers. The serpents had taken Padawan Emen into their care, feeding him energy on the beach like they did to Ishka. With his mind cleared of the dark veil, Emen over the last half hour felt Ishka's suffering under torture. The serpents and Master Bes can feel it too, but to a smaller degree. Part of an ancient race that used to dwell the land, serpents were enslaved by the Sith thousands of years ago for their Force sensitivity. Their civil war resulted in the death of the Sith except their leader, which prevented the serpents from returning to the land. Within the depths of the old Sith ruins, a power generator fueled by living Force energy keeps the Sith Master alive. To operate, this generator must be fed; being such a special jedi capable of battle meditation, Padawan Ishka will serve as a unique fuel the Sith Master never experienced before. With this information provided by the serpents, Master Bes calls for assistance; of the last four jedi on the frigate he calls down three. A half-dozen soldiers join the jedi: they meet with Master Bes, three dozen serpent warriors, and the few soldiers Bes brought with him. Padawan Emen, suffering wounds too intense to walk, cannot join them. Master Bes leads their team toward the dark energy of the Sith Master, but this energy appears to speed up toward them. Floating towards them, surrounded by a Force barrier, the Sith fires lightning bolts in all directions. The four jedi overpower the Sith Master even as their team scatters in fear; the Sith must flee back to the ruins. After giving chase, the Jedi find Padawan Ishka trapped in a stream of dark energy deep in the underground tunnels of the Sith ruins. The Sith Master uses this battery to regain his strength against Master Bes, 1 jedi knight and two masters, several dozen warriors, and several Republic soldiers. It's a close fight; the Sith Master kills half his attackers before he suffers enough pain. In the end, Padawan Ishka's resistance of his control divided his attention too much. The dark side battery leaves a permanent scar on all who experienced its negative radiating energy, especially Ishka who acted as its conduit.

4\. This degradation is not extremely apparent in anyone yet except Padawan Ishka. Back inside the frigate, four jedi and Master Bes meditate in a circle around her to help slow the change. The one jedi that did not go to the unknown world, Master Deuyea (Ithorian, male, middle-aged), hasn't yet suspected that Master Bes, and the other three jedi ([human, male, ginger], [bith, female], [devaronian, female]), will all follow the same negative trajectory as Padawan Ishka. These jedi because of their dark energy infection end up releasing more negative energy into Padawan Ishka than they take out, which accelerates her condition. Four jedi and Master Bes working in unison should be able to help Padawan Ishka. This leads Master Deuyea, to conclude that the other three jedi, and Master Ansu 'navu Bes, and the few surviving soldiers all have been affected by the dark energy generator without realizing it. Their negative energy increases over time; while not overwhelming their personalities, it does scare Master Deuyea. If the energy continues to grow it will overpower their personalities, and too much is at stake for any further mishaps. He informs the jedi aboard the other surviving space craft within their fleet, plus the Jedi Council on Coruscant of the problem. It's a complicated situation, especially now that Padawan Ishka and her battle meditation have been placed in jeopardy. The Grand Jedi Council call into question Master Ansu 'navu Bes's ability to protect his students when his own state of mind is slowly being deteriorated by the dark side of the Force. Master Deuyea is informed that their ships are being rerouted from a retreat, to the reinforcement of a world under Sith attack. Sik'kh, a half-modernized planet that supports the Republic, has been decimated; only three cities including the capital stand. Master Deuyea informs the planetary command of the dark energy generator incident, and prepared for Jedi to take Ishka from Master Bes once they land near the palace. He doesn't tell Master Bes about this.

 **5.** Over a few hours: Despite Master Deuyea knowing his fellow jedi are promoting negative energy, he allows them to continue to 'help' Ishka to not raise ire among his colleagues. Even the jedi affected by the generator start to notice their change in disposition as time passes on. Padawan Ishka thinks of how much she resents Padawan Emen and Master Bes for going along with the Council and demanding she use her battle meditation for weeks on end these past couple years. Making her go to yet another battle to use battle meditation like a faceless pawn after a deeply traumatic experience puts a bad taste in her mouth. Everyone is counting on Ishka, but the people she cares about are the same people that hold her back from true power. Not the Jedi Order, nor the Sith, could provide the autonomy her talent warrants.

 **6.** The small fleet arrives in orbit around Sik'kh. Away from the planet, a battle between Sith and Republic fleets rages on. The jedi travel on passenger ships to the planet surface, while the fleet joins the engagement. After landing, Master Bes instructs Padawan Emen and Padawan Ishka to enter the palace where the diplomats, generals, and jedi masters are stationed. The hallways are choked with personnel, the remaining members of the planetary government from every region have come to the palace. Made aware by Deuyea of Padawan Ishka, and Master Bes's negative energy disorder, the jedi masters lead her to a room where she could begin her battle meditation. Emen will have a room for his medical treatment, and Master Bes tries to get involved in both arrangements. He gets slowly kicked out of the palace, uninformed of his issue but generally aware of his unstable emotions. Master Bes goes to the front lines on the east side of the city, letting loose his pent up negative feelings. When the invasion force attacks, the north side falls back. The east side holds, the west collapses, but the south holds too. The east side led by Master Bes heads straight back for the palace to defend a bridge on the north side leading to the palace over a moat. The mole men of Sik'kh hold the north while Master Bes runs to the west side. After unifying troops and jedi out there, he comes back to the bridge. With battle meditation on their side, the remnants of the west plus the east turn the Sith attacking from the north back into a retreat. The remaining Republic troops on the south compensate for the routed west side, and the Sith give up the fight. The Republic military follow their retreat, Master Bes giving chase in a fashion all too eager and unprofessional. Padawan Emen, feeling his state of mind, feels disgusted for his master. He killed many, perhaps too many to resist his spiritual contamination. At least Padawan Ishka has the help she needs from other jedi masters. Padawan Ishka visits Emen's room after the battle; they talk about how they were both contacted by the Sith Emperor during the fight. They didn't know if the Emperor was on Sik'kh or another world, but they knew the Emperor could feel their presence. Undoubtedly the Grand Jedi Council can feel Ishka's increasingly negative presence from Coruscant, and that Ishka's integrity as a jedi lies in question. The padawan realize this is the last moment they will ever be together.

 **7.** The next day: Upon their return to Coruscant, Master Bes and each Padawan were separated. Under guard, they await a response from the Grand Council.


	3. Part 2: End of a Season

Part 2: End of a Season

1\. Master Deuyea asks the other three jedi that came to the unknown world to discuss their dark side infection with the Grand Jedi Council. They submit to treatment programs where they will be studied. Padawan Emen, having never experienced the dark side generator, is sent on a leave mission to the gas giant of Bespin where another master will watch over him. Padawan Ishka will come under direct control by the grand council, in which jedi master handlers will secure her safety while assisting in her treatment and use of battle meditation. Emen and Ishka don't tell about their communication with the Emperor, but the grand council already suspects that Ishka's energy has grown powerful from the dark generator if unstable.

2\. Over the next 4 Months ( **118 days** ): Master Aloqyen, age 52 female Duros, taught Padawan Emen as he recovered the gas mining facility on Bespin. During his stay, Master Bes once again joined covert operations, but he disappeared on **day 100**. On day **109,** a few dark jedi kidnap Padawan Ishka. She warns Emen that they want her battle meditation for their own use, that they will come for him just to put more pressure on her. Several days pass by; Padawan Emen physically experiences Ishka's torture, and tries to warn the employees stationed on the Bespin facility. Few decide to listen except Master Aloqyen and a pilot named Tet Ganad. She ran supplies from Bespin to the surrounding planets, often on request of management and her own personal pleasure. Aloqyen keeps Padawan Emen where he is, believing his fear of attack coming from his close experiences with Ishka's torture.

On **day 115** , the Sith finally arrive. A lone capital vessel sends down a few transport ships with soldiers and dark jedi. To buy Padawan Emen more time, Master Aloqyen activates the station self-destruct systems with the help of the station manager. Deactivating the propulsion engines and life support systems, they put the facility in a state of free fall into the gas planet. Much of the crew escaped, but Master Aloqyen and the station manager die at the hands of a half-machine sith master, and another snake-hominid master with wires running through his head to goggles over his eyes. The last master of the Three, a long-chinned human chases Padawan Emen and Tet Ganad as they approach the hanger bay. They escape the facility in Tet Ganad's cargo ship, but when they enter hyperspace to Nar Shaddaa the Sith capital vessel followed.

3\. 1 day ( **Day 116** ): Padawan Emen and Tet Ganad land on Nar Shaddaa and for a time hide from their enemies. The Sith capital vessel stays in orbit around the planet, sending dark jedi in small scout teams dressed in civilian garb to sense out the Padawan. The dark jedi eventually catch up; Tet and Emen run through the city streets dodging bounty hunters hired by the Sith. Disorganized and often competitive crossfire allows Emen to escape. The dark jedi are not on par to Emen's training, but there are dozens of them. The Three Masters must be teaching an army in their capital vessel.

Mercenaries commandeer Tet's craft, so Padawan Emen and her look for another vessel while being chased by dark jedi and bounty hunters. When they find one, its pilot proclaims himself a drug lord they should fear. Both Tet and Emen better get off his docking pad, or else. At this point, Padawan Emen has accidentally killed a few innocent people in the streets of Nar Shadaa, and sees no problem with killing this guy too. He stabs the drug lord through the chest, and Tet preps the engines. They head to Coruscant, assuming the dark jedi are off their tail.

4\. On the vessel an assassin droid, HK-47, approaches Tet and Emen in the cockpit. It belonged to the drug lord, but with his death the droid can follow anyone that wants to claim ownership. Emen doesn't like this, but Tet offers to claim the droid. She could use the protection now that the Sith want to kill her too. The assassin droid seems mentally unhinged, talking endlessly about the countless murders he's conducted. Tet begins to regret her decision, but keeps her mind on landing their craft in a Coruscant hanger bay.

5\. **Day 117** : Before he travels to the Jedi Temple, Emen asks Tet Ganad to continue her life, that following him would be suicide. Reluctant to leave behind someone she considers a good friend, Tet says she will keep in touch. They survived hell together, and hope to reunite one day.

6\. The Jedi Council hold an emergency meeting to discuss the arrival of Padawan Emen. Ishka had been abducted, her jedi master handlers killed. Master Ansu 'navu Bes has been out of contact since his last top-secret mission, presumed dead or captured. After Padawan Emen speaks of his own experiences, the attack of a sole Sith capital vessel, and the death of Master Aloqyen, Grand Master Veshei decides Padawan Emen is too unstable to be allowed his freedom. Having killed innocent people and generally explored the dark side during his escape on Nar Shaddaa, his soul is tainted. He was not exposed to the dark energy generator, but he still ventured into the dark side. He may become a liability, especially if the grand council tracks down Padawan Ishka. Padawan Emen begs they allow him to help find the Sith capital vessel, or at least track down Master Bes so they have a better chance at attacking this enemy. The Sith capital vessel worked alone, but the grand council finds that hard to believe. Single ship attacks have happened before, though a capital vessel is out of the ordinary. Master Veshei opts to listen to her fellow Jedi and choose the safest option. They place Padawan Emen in a maximum-security Jedi prison, where the most dangerous dark, outcast, and assassin jedi are kept. Unfortunately, their safest option turned into a global disaster.

7\. **10 Days (Days 118-127)** : Working for the Three Masters, poisoned by promises of glory in killing the Emperor, Padawan Ishka launches endless psychic attacks on Emen. Waiting until he was in prison, they ensured he had nowhere to run and no friends to turn to for help. Unable to handle her voice in his head, Emen had always been worse at psychic Force powers. The prison executives, top class jedi themselves, decide to sedate him to prevent Ishka from extracting any information from him. This only makes him more susceptible to her control. The days pass with increasingly greater sedation on Emen, leaving the grand council in a bad position. They don't know Ishka's plan, or where the Sith capital vessel is located. Without recourse, they wait for the Sith to strike first.

8\. **Day 127:** Once properly broken down, Ishka enters Emen's mind. Pain caused by her attacks feed back to Ishka through their psychic link; she converts both their pain into energy. By abusing their link, Ishka builds up the power necessary to control Emen and overcharge the Force Inhibitor collar around his neck. Their powers combined, Ishka breaks the inhibitor with an electric surge. The guards try to subdue Emen, but Ishka kills them by channeling her Force powers through Emen. Ishka then frees most of the prisoners. All over the detention center more jedi leave their posts to challenge the revolt. With battle meditation backing up the prisoners, however, they overpower the far better equipped jedi guards. Because an entire Sith capital vessel full of dark jedi supports Ishka, she has the energy to conduct her battle meditation while making Emen her puppet. The prison lies underground, with a 'pin' blocking access to the outside worlds. Its designers never accounted for a battle meditation-capable Padawan, apparently. The prisoners deactivate the pin, push it out its hole, and cast it aside on the surface. Thousands of jedi, ships, and large cruiser vessels stand ready to confront the prisoners on all sides. Before a battle can be initiated, the Sith capital vessel enters Coruscant space. The Republic generals want to shoot it out of the sky, but Master Veshei thinks against it. They've monitored this situation since it began, and many jedi disagree on how to deal with it. Master Veshei rules for a reserved response; she orders the Republic and the jedi allow the prisoners to escape. The prisoners had already killed some of the most skilled jedi within the Order, and Master Veshei doesn't want to risk critical losses by challenging them. Transports fly back and forth from the Sith capital vessel, and soon all the prisoners are aboard. Though many of the prisoners are not Sith affiliated, the Three Masters plan to convert them through torture, lethal competition, and brain washing.

9\. **Day 128:** The Jedi Council and the Republic military are unhappy with the way this disaster was handled. Between the jedi and Republic generals that wanted to stop this battle meditation-armed enemy once and for all, Master Veshei is stuck. She chooses to resign her position as head of the Grand Jedi Council, opting to go find Master Ansu 'navu Bes. Better to redeem herself as a reliable jedi than cling to fading power. Another master jedi, a friend of Master Bes, named Master Gelin planned to leave Coruscant to search for Bes as well. Veshei's ability to influence those trained to withstand mental attack makes her invaluable in manipulating Sith officers and dark jedi. She joins Master Gelin on his mission. An experienced secret agent and balanced in Force and sword, Gelin (blonde male human age 46) wanted to find Master Bes since his disappearance. Prior missions prevented him from starting a search, but with Master Veshei they will likely succeed in finding the only jedi who could save Padawan Emen and Ishka from themselves. While the grand council debates on who should become the next leader of the Order, Gelin and Veshei leave Coruscant. Master Vol, another friend of Master Bes (age 37 male Twi'lek red skin), acquires a vessel from Republic command for these two jedi masters to use on their journey.

10\. Master Gelin and Master Veshei travel to Tatooine using this vessel, where they disguise themselves as simple travelers with authentic-looking fake travel visas. Tatooine is a desert world with little technological infrastructure. They board a transport heading to the planet in which Master Bes had his last secret mission, Mustafar, a lava world with a few limited cities. Master Bes was supposed to cause a chemical plant to become volatile; his success should have impeded the flow of raw materials from many of the core mining facilities on Mustafar.

11\. As the transport lands in one of the Mustafarian cities, Master Gelin and Veshei witness the effects of Master Bes's mission. Sections of the city were damaged by lava flow and chemical contamination, the city itself cut up with quarantine signs and air toxicity warnings. Master Bes succeeded in his mission, which meant he is either dead, imprisoned, or somewhere on the planet. Master Gelin and Veshei start asking around for anyone that has noticed a blue-skinned twi'lek named Bes, but their inquiries throughout the day only draw the attention of Sith agents and dark jedi looking for the culprits of this disaster.

12\. When night comes, the Masters consider giving up the search for the day. The slums and strip clubs gave no results as to the whereabouts of Master Bes, though people had noticed him. This was a bad sign; it meant Master Bes left an impression making him easier to track. He may have lost his edge while training the padawan. As a last-ditch effort, they decide to visit the high-end strip clubs since they might find a Sith officer there, or a bartender that talked to Bes. Master Veshei goes to the bar, by chance receiving a drink from another patron. It's a Sith officer, middle-aged male Bith, too drunk to filter his words. He can't stop about how much money he's got and how hot she looks. Master Veshei plays along, keeping an eye on Master Gelin as he walks into one of the private dance rooms with a stripper. As far as she can tell, they both hit the jackpot. The officer asks sooner than expected to head back to his place, and Master Veshei joins him. Leaving Master Gelin behind makes her second guess this decision, but by then she's already in a hovercraft.

Meanwhile Master Gelin offers her money to tell anything she knows about a man named Bes. Under a pillow next to Master Gelin is a long knife. When the stripper bends down to whisper in his ear she draws the knife, and stabs his neck repeatedly. Maser Gelin instinctively pulls his lightsaber to his right hand, and turns it on. Extending from the lightsaber hilt, the energy beam cuts through the stripper's arm. Holding his neck, Master Gelin tries to stand up but collapses. Sith agents find his body, pale and lifeless, on top of their female agent. She's unconscious, but the chances of reattaching her arm are low. Lightsabers cauterize the wounds they create.

12\. Heavy petting in his car sidetracked by drinking out the minibar, now the officer lays asleep, drunk in his bed. Master Veshei sits on the toilet, worrying about whoever got to Master Gelin. During the ride over to the apartment, she felt him die. Maybe Sith agents followed her too. Before exiting the bathroom, she gets to work opening the mind of the drunken officer through psychic attack. Veshei's expertise in this field compromises the barriers placed in his mind by the Sith. His mind holds useful information; Master Bes came under Sith custody, and they tortured him every day since. After grabbing one of the officer uniforms, his sidearm, and his phone, Veshei makes him fall into a deep sleep. The uniform is the wrong size, but she can tighten it with consistent attention in the Force whenever someone is looking. Before heading to the Sith military base, she checks the officer comm system for any alerts. Only Master Gelin's murder is reported, they put his body in a military transport heading to the base. Master Veshei thinks about feeling his death while being groped in the same speeder she's flying now. Shudder.

14\. A droid and several guards stand in front of the Sith hanger; they demand Master Veshei provide identification. After she convinces the guards through a mind-trick that she had, they let her park. Guards in the hanger approach her craft, saying the Sith wish to speak with her. A jedi died in the city, and Master Bes needs to be interrogated. Master Veshei states that Master Bes is in custody, so how would he know about anyone trying to save him? They want to escort her to the Sith personally, but she mind-trick this thought out of them. After heading to the detention center, Master Veshei gives her credentials to enter the maximum-security block. Master Bes sits in a corner with a beige wall behind him, a force field separating his cell from the rest of the facility. An inhibitor collar sits around Bes's neck, his prison uniform tattered, body half-starved. The soldiers manning the prison control systems deactivate the force field on Veshei's command, all under her influence. Exhausted but conscious, Master Bes makes eye contact with Veshei as she approaches. He can't believe she's here, that of anyone to come for him it would be a grand master. After she disables the inhibitor collar with a bolt of lightning, soldiers watching on camera begin making calls. Emergency alarms sound off, dark jedi enter the prison center. Master Veshei and Master Bes challenge the Sith to come fight, and they accept the challenge. Four dark jedi find the odds in their favor. When the elevator to the maximum detention center opens its doors, only Master Veshei stands in front of them with her lightsaber. They attack all at once, and don't notice Master Bes floating up the ceiling with an officer sidearm off Veshei's uniform. While he shoots one of the dark jedi in the back of the neck, Veshei blocks incoming lightsaber strikes. Master Bes lowers himself to the ground slowly while force pulling toward him the lightsaber of a fallen dark jedi. One of the dark jedi decides to go after Master Bes, but splitting up leads to their deaths. The sith master is on its way to the detention block now, and the jedi can't waste a second trying to escape. Master Bes isn't too weak to fight, but weak enough to be killed by a professional. The dark jedi they defeated were knights, experienced but lacking finesse.

15\. Master Veshei and Bes take the elevator up to the main detention block. Mind-tricks allowed Veshei to infiltrate the Sith, but now a fight seems inevitable. Twenty troopers arrived in the detention command center over the course of the jedi standoff, ready to fight. The two jedi kill half the room before the rest run out the two entrances. Master Veshei considers letting out the detention block prisoners. Master Bes warns against it, that many of the prisoners don't take kindly to jedi or dark jedi. Throughout the galaxy the jedi/sith question lies in controversy, most believing both organizations should be disbanded because of the danger these forces create.

Master Veshei succeeds in healing Master Bes of his critical wounds, though he still needs rest. They enter another elevator leading to the hangers, but the elevator after operating normally comes to a stop. When it starts to fall, the jedi cut a way out through the ceiling, and jump out. Their feet stick with Force energy to the elevator shaft walls. They look up the shaft at the dark master who cut the elevator cables. He charges down at them. The fight continues up and down the elevator shaft, but no decisive move from either side occurs. A couple dozen doorways to other floors open into the elevator shaft. Soldiers shoot at the jedi through them, but this works against the Sith. Managing to catch it in crossfire, the jedi achieve a lethal blow. His body falls down the shaft. Running up to the highest floor, the hangar bay, the jedi witness troopers fleeing from the base on any ship available. The emergency alarms, anxious soldiers, and fighting have convinced many to assume a large-scale attack was happening. The stolen craft in Master Veshei's possession is still present, so they leave.

16\. The jedi outmaneuver pursuing Sith speeders; many break off early in the chase due to their disorganization. Master Veshei and Bes decide to jump out of the ship, and let it crash. They flee toward the city on open, arid mountain terrain. With Force Speed, they arrive in the urban outskirts within minutes. The sith soldiers realize they can't track down the Jedi anywhere in the city without their own Sith to seek out their energy. While tricking minds as they pass through the urban landscape, Master Veshei continues to heal the weakened Bes. While sith soldiers were correct in assuming the jedi would use the spaceport or a licensed craft to escape, they send out agents too late. Veshei and Bes get into the spaceport terminal where a few agents at a time search through the passengers awaiting their flight. Veshei can trick agents even if their training is of top quality, but she can't correct the memory of more than a few at a time. Ten agents show up after the jedi were searched, which would have proven too difficult if Bes and Veshei showed up late.

17\. **1 Day** : They fly back to Tatooine, board the Republic vessel lent to them on command of Master Vol, and travel to Coruscant. Upon arrival, Master Veshei contacts the new leader of the Jedi Order, the shrewd-minded Master Jisis. This master is a Thisspiasian, a species known for their long fingers, long hair, slim frames, and love of skin lotion. Master Jisis asks they present themselves to the Council immediately. Master Veshei says that can't be done, that Master Jisis will have to meet them alone, privately. After paying for a room in a motel on a capital city sublevel, four Republic elite soldiers provided security as Master Jisis awaited his audience.

Master Veshei and Bes, when they arrive, inform Master Jisis that Master Gelin died on the mission. Master Jisis can't accept this because he trusted Master Gelin more than Master Veshei or Master Bes. Without care for Master Jisis's obvious anxiety for what the two wayward masters may do, Master Veshei explains that she needs a team to hunt down the Sith capital vessel of the Three Masters. They could track it down by following Emen and Ishka's energy. While heading back to Coruscant, Master Veshei explained what occurred in Bes's absence. The Three Masters detached themselves from the Sith Empire **four months ago** , but no one could guess the reason why would be to kidnap Ishka whose battle meditation acts as the most powerful influence over the war. They could sense her through a negative energy scar left by the generator from an unknown world, and through the energy signature released by her battle meditation. Her experienced jedi handlers could not cover up her dark energy completely so long as she resisted them. Some considered that Ishka might have allowed or even helped the Three Masters in finding her. Master Bes has had plenty of time to think about the danger of their mission; to find out the truth they must first track down Ishka through his connection with her. Master Jisis refuses to allow the plan, but Master Bes argues that if they don't go and get Ishka back, chances are the Emperor will beat them to it. Even if most of the Order and the Sith can't sense her, Bes has his personal connection and the Emperor might already be making contact. Ishka craves power; the Emperor is the logical next step up from the Three Masters. Master Jisis says there's too many 'ifs,' that finding the ship might not save Padawan Ishka. The sith masters and their legion will undoubtedly beat a small team aboard their ship, more so now since the Sith are backed up by battle meditation. Refusing to authorize the plan, Jisis thinks of how easily he could've put these jedi in custody if they were in the council chambers. For now, Master Jisis allows the two masters, popularly regarded as 'unhinged,' to form a team of volunteers without access to anything more than basic funding. The Order can't send anyone else after Ishka, because they can't sense her. The Three Masters picked up Emen because they want to use him for torturing and controlling Ishka through their shared psychic link. Master Veshei and Master Bes got a deal, but only because Master Jisis knows the two masters will act without his sanction anyway. Followed by his guards, Master Jisis leaves the room, warning that if their team ever were in trouble that the Jedi Council may not acknowledge the issue. The two masters find their own apartment to sleep in, and plan for the next day.

18\. **5 Days** : Throughout Coruscant, Master Bes and Master Veshei look for volunteers. They visit high-security prisons, where force and non-force sensitive ex-agents try to convince the jedi to let them help with the mission. One ex-Sith agent agrees to the precautions and paperwork. He is a thin framed human, 5'8" 125 pounds, hollow-eyed, his codename in his past was Peep. His history filled with the killing and torture of jedi and dark jedi alike, he's generally considered a doomed agent because of his knack for betraying both sides. Such a character would make a great advisor, especially when no one would believe his word if he returned to Republic space without the jedi. Master Veshei fails to make headway in the Jedi Temple because of her popular disgrace over the prison escape incident. Master Bes talks to Master Vol, a fellow Twi'lek (male, red skin). Another master brought up a potential volunteer to Master Veshei to help her efforts, despite the politics of the time. A male selkath, a bipedal-amphibian species of Manaan named Jedi Knight Isai studies Telepathy, detection of Force energy, Psychic Defense, and Mind Control. He refuses the disgraced Master Veshei, but Master Bes gives him a try later in the day. Everywhere Veshei goes it seems the military, the jedi, the people of Coruscant see her differently. It informs her of just how lucky she is to come back to Coruscant with Master Bes alive; she might have been exiled otherwise.

 **19\. Day 5** , Abandoned warehouse in the lower levels of Coruscant. Four other Jedi Knights, Master Vol, a few pilots from local cantinas, mercenaries, Peep and a few other prisoners under escort, and a Republic agent are present. Master Veshei and Master Bes ask for one year of their time in which they will be paid by the month. After that year, any member may leave when they wish, if necessary the operation will be discontinued.

The Republic provide from their garrison a cargo vessel. Its cannons will help in dog fights, but it would be suicide to attack a large vessel. It has been **7 days** since Padawan Emen and the several thousand prisoners were abducted, and **25 days** since Padawan Ishka was abducted from her jedi master bodyguard. By now, a hundred prisoners as well as Padawan Emen have been 'processed' by the Sith. This does not ensure their allegiance to the Three Masters or the dark side, but it does ensure dark side influence over the prisoners.

Tet Ganad with the HK-47 at her side approaches Master Bes as a friend of Padawan Emen. They escaped Bespin, and she owes Emen her life. Bes views Tet as an asset, the droid could be especially useful since it has no Force energy for Sith to detect. Master Jisis arrives as the chosen representative by the Jedi Council, Veshei and Bes resent his involvement. **Eleven members** in total make up the jedi company: **Master Bes** , **Master Veshei** , **Master Jisis** , **Master Vol** , **Jedi Knight Isai** , **Tet Ganad** , **HK-47** , a Rodian female pilot named **Ugen Meda** , and the prisoner called **Peep** accompanied by **two Republic prison guardsmen**. Ugen Meda was approached by Bes in a cantina, and Peep joined to earn himself a reduced sentence. Guards have a sole responsibility for keeping control of the prisoner. After boarding the cargo ship, Tet and Ugen fire up the engines and enter orbit around Coruscant. The jedi form a meditation circle, hoping to catch the energy signature of Padawan Ishka through her connection with Bes.


	4. Part 3: Meanwhile

Part 3: Over the course of those **7 days in which Padawan Emen and prisoners were captured** …

1\. **Days 1-5** : Padawan Emen is tortured at first, then thrown into death matches against Sith students and prisoners alike. During this time, Padawan Ishka tries to break through the psychic barriers placed on her mind by the half-machine, chief sith master. Psychic abilities continue to increase as Ishka challenges her containment, while Emen kills his way to the final competition with the long-chinned sith master that attacked him and Tet on Bespin. She's being contained to prevent her attacks on Emen. Their psychic link transfers the pain she causes him back to her, and Ishka used this to build up dark side energy. The Three Masters have psychic barriers on her to stop her from becoming too powerful.

2. **Day 6** : The long-chinned sith master tries to insight fear in Padawan Emen, then catch him off guard with one blow. Like the other trainees, Emen uses a force pike, while the sith master uses a lightsaber. Exhaustion sets in from a lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and constant stress. The sith master could kill Padawan Emen, but he needs this child alive. Torturing Emen instead of harming Ishka makes her more powerful; when the time comes this could help against the Emperor. Padawan Ishka has different plans; after tearing hole in her psychic barriers, she concentrates enough energy to use battle meditation. Under her influence, the long-chinned sith master cuts Padawan Emen deep in the stomach. Before she can kill him, the chief sith master shocks her until she passes out. They place both Padawan in a bacta tanks in separate medical facilities. She succeeded in influencing the fight, but didn't succeed in murdering her childhood friend. To tread the path of the dark side, Ishka needs to cut ties with her past. The sith master felt irritated with the chief sith master for losing control over Ishka.

3\. **Day 7** : Emen wakes up before Ishka, but when her eyes open she gets right to work. Ishka talks in his head with four or five different voices at the same time; the experience is maddening, it's the same technique Ishka used on Emen in the jedi prison. Voices overwhelm his consciousness; medical staff activate the emergency alert system as Emen becomes a conduit for Ishka's powers once again. Before the possessed Emen can create too much harm, the chief sith master uses his lightning to overpower Ishka. Most of Emen's medical staff died in this attack. A team retrieves Emen laying in a shattered bacta tank, and take him to another facility. Chief sith master holds a meeting with his fellow masters to find a solution to this increasingly unstable situation.

4\. United, the Three Masters could beat the Emperor if Ishka provided battle meditation. Manipulating both padawan into achieving their ends could help the masters. Once the Emperor dies, they will need allies against the rest of the Sith; the padawan could serve as their top apprentices. Emen proved less troublesome for these plans but only because he lacks Ishka's power. Both struggled against the conversion techniques, but Padawan Ishka gained considerably more power because of her negativity infection. The Three Masters wonder if they can control her, but also pride themselves by attributing her power with their teachings. They don't know about the dark generator incident.

They were led to believe the two padawan share a psychic bond, but during Ishka's recent possession of Emen it hasn't shown any presence, no increase in Ishka's power. Emen didn't respond to Ishka's pain from the chief's electric attack either, which means their psychic link might've been severed by their conflict against each other. The Three Masters wanted Padawan Emen to use him to torture Ishka via satellite, to preserve her body in case one of them needed to take over her form in the future. Ishka's newly developed power protects her from being affected by physical punishment, however. Scorching her skin with lightning would have killed her on **Day 20** of her capture. Now, the chief sith master had to shock Ishka until her skin charred before she would pass out. Her desire to kill Emen and resist the masters leaves them in a tough position. During their discussion, scanners pick up a Sith fleet entering from hyperspace.


	5. Part 4: Sobering Realizations

Part 4: Sobering Realizations

 **1.** Continuation of **Day 7** : Master Bes, supported by the jedi among his company, has succeeded at locating the Sith capital vessel somewhere in uncharted space. His connection to Emen and Ishka has made this seemingly impossible task possible. Unfortunately, Padawan Emen wouldn't respond to him, though he knows Emen heard his voice in his head. Padawan Emen saves his strength to better manage his injuries, but he also doesn't trust Bes no matter his calming words asking he stay safe while they work to free him and Ishka. To Emen, there is little hope both he and Ishka will leave this ship alive. No longer a student of any side of the force, he's too afraid to give into hope. Bes can also feel Ishka, plus the unstable, unmasked emotions of the unconverted prisoners. The Three Masters are making a crucial slip-up by not focusing on hiding their Force energy more carefully, no doubt the Emperor can feel them too. It's only a matter of time before the Sith send a fleet of their own; it might've already happened if Ishka's working with the Emperor. Failing to contact Ishka, Bes wonders if her low vital signs indicate a coma or being near death. If they want to break her out of captivity, Bes will need her battle meditation against the Three Masters. Master Bes and his company finally feel there is hope, especially since it took so little time to find the vessel.

Tet Ganad and Ugen Meda plot coordinates to the Sith capital vessel. They arrive nearby, but not close enough to be detected. Master Bes tries to contact Padawan Ishka again, but she's still unconscious. Suspecting she's being kept that way through torture, for now he says they shouldn't engage. They have no alternate path from which to attack the vessel. Charging at it head on would be suicide, so for a few minutes they wait for the situation to change. Grand Master Jisis contacts Coruscant for aid, hoping his authority will cause a fleet to come quickly. The Grand Jedi Council is nervous to respond; the Republic military, however, hoping to exact vengeance for the prison break takes initiative in preparing a fleet. The grand council confirms that the Republic is on its way; it appears the story has already ended. Soon everyone will be going home. To Master Bes and Master Veshei, this could mean becoming generals again, and a return to the Council as heroes.

 **2.** Ugen Meda and Tet Ganad ask Master Jisis to come to the cockpit. When he arrives, Ugen Meda and Tet Ganad explain their sensors picked up two small Sith vessels off to the side, barely noticeable. Master Jisis recognizes them as scout vessels. The Sith capital vessel hasn't picked them up on radar, it hasn't picked their craft up either. If they had, they'd already be making a jump to hyperspace. Making another call to Coruscant, Jisis warns that a Sith fleet is most likely on the way. The jedi company have no choice but to watch as a Sith fleet arrives, and engages the lone Sith capital vessel. Tet Ganad fires up the hyperdrive just in case small fighters attack them. Once the Republic fleet does arrive, Tet and Ugen land the cargo vessel inside the hanger of the Republic capital vessel. Though an officer tries to walk up the boarding ramp to demand the jedi company head to the bridge, HK-47 threatens him that he better leave the jedi to their business in the cargo hold.

3\. Probing their minds for some easy information, the Emperor already has a plan on how to eliminate the Three Masters. He learns how physically weak Padawan Ishka has become, and that she can still channel high levels of energy. Once again offering promises of power, he enters Ishka's mind. Into her soul, her energy, he manipulates the Force into a fire golem built out of dark side energy.

After it bursts out from Ishka's soul, fused with her life force, the chief sith master at first can't think quickly enough to sound the alarm. He caught Ishka contacting the Emperor again, but couldn't punish her quickly enough. Sith boarding parties begin to invade the Sith capital vessel; the chief sith master dealing with this crisis didn't consider the Emperor would also engage an attack from within. The fire golem attacks, and the wire-headed sith master runs to his aid upon sensing this new threat. The long-chinned sith master, in another part of the vessel, makes his way to the chief as well. Padawan Ishka, at almost no energy, falls limp into a corner of the medical examination room as this fight begins. Dark jedi knights, the Emperor's elite sith masters the Emperor's Masters, and elite sith troopers fight the mix of rogue dark jedi, apprentices, sith troopers, mercenaries, ex-prisoner dark jedi, and unturned prisoners. Before the Republic has had a chance to intervene, the battle has begun.

 **4\. 10 Minutes after attack on the Sith capital vessel:** Feeling the amount of negative Force energy emanating from the battle, the jedi company as well as fellow jedi in the Republic fleet become uncomfortable. Master Bes feels Emen wake up, but without his sense of self-control. The dark side fills Emen's spirit, he doesn't pay attention to what Bes says to him out of complete focus on his desire to strike back at Ishka. While trying to calm Emen down, Master Bes searches for Ishka through their Force connection. He realizes Emen is heading towards her. Master Jisis relays this information, and the Republic fleet immediately engages the Sith fleet. They can't take the risk that Padawan Emen, in his compromised state, will attempt to kill Ishka.

 **5\. 15 minutes after:** The jedi company lament about having to leave behind their cargo vessel; uncomfortable and cold, but theirs all the same. They split into three groups among the hundreds of gunships: **Peep and his guard plus Master Vol** (4 of 11) go to gunship #1. **Jedi Knight Isai, Master Jisis, Master Bes, and Ugen Meda** as copilot on gunship #2 (4 of 11). **Master Veshei, HK-47, and Tet Ganad** as copilot on gunship #3 (3 of 11). Each gunship is built to carry 24 passengers plus crew (3), and they can outmaneuver most fighters but lack significant firing capability. Not the first three gunships to depart the capital vessel, each of their craft leaves the hanger uncoordinated from the rest of the jedi company. Gunships begin to leave the docking bay twenty at a time.

 **6\. 30 minutes after:** The initial assault by the Republic fleet shatters the line of Sith gunships entering the Sith capital vessel. Distancing itself for another attack, the Sith fleet refocuses its attention from the Sith capital vessel to the Republic. The Republic pulls out after briefly retaining control of the fight, cutting the flow of Republic gunships. #1 (Peep, his guards (2), and Master Vol) is left behind in the Republic capital vessel, but #2 and #3 make it out.

 **7.** The gunships fight through ceaseless attacks from all sides. A Republic frigate explodes, a gunship vaporizes after taking a direct hit from a Sith frigate laser cannon. Those watching pilot their craft carefully, hoping to beat the odds and make it inside. The first wave of gunships all died or landed, gunship #2 and #3 are on the eighth wave of gunships. Eighth is the last; the line is cut from fleet support because they pull out. What Sith capital vessel guns remain in operation are the biggest ones, so gunships need to be careful. Many die, but #2 and #3 make it.

 **8.** **35 minutes after:** Shooting balls of lava at landing Republic gunships, the Emperor's fire golem poses a critical threat. Every ship perishes; by the time #3 (Tet Ganad, HK-47, and Master Veshei) lands, fire covers the hanger bay. Burnt gunship rubble piled up so much, that the floor began to sink in huge swathes. #2 lands (Jedi Knight Isai, Master Jisis, Master Bes, and Ugen Meda) as gunship #3 gets shot at by the golem. They don't know if any of the soldiers or their friends died or lived when gunship #3 explodes. By the time everyone abandons ship, the golem turns to #2 as well. Bits of debris rain from the sky as the survivors fill every hallway. Republic troops and jedi pass through the vessel unorganized and afraid. The fire golem performed well, the Emperor controlling its actions from afar in the Supreme Sith capital vessel. This ship is the newest variant of the capital vessel, while the one operated by the Three Masters is a generic, outdated model used by the highest ranking sith masters. The Emperor's Masters conduct the battle against the Three Masters, and it's a matter of time before they will find Emen and Ishka too. The Three Masters can't beat all of them; of eight Emperor's Masters they kill three, and then retreat. The remaining Masters give chase, but others who arrive late look for Ishka instead. They know her whereabouts, they can feel her energy. They get caught up in conflicts all over the vessel, however, which slows them down if not leads to each of their demise.

 **9.** At this point, Padawan Emen killed his way through the ship to find Padawan Ishka. He feels like this is his fate, this is what he was meant to do. Full of disillusionment but empowered by his egotistic desire to take revenge on Ishka, Emen shuts out Master Bes's pleads to listen to reason. Emen can feel the presence of the fire golem; if he can tap into that same energy then he could end this. In the **medical facility** he walks along the numbered rooms. The guard and staff abandoned her, and those loyal to the Emperor have not arrived either. Sheer chaos has rendered this medical facility hard to reach, despite their attempts to cut through the opposition. Fire from incoming Republic and Sith craft has led to the destabilization of the entire vessel; walls are coming apart, ceilings shatter, shots from outside tearing holes that suck hundreds of soldiers into space. Padawan Ishka, her crumpled dead looking form, limped out of her cell into the hallway. Padawan Emen strikes her with lightning, but she redirects it into his eyes. She then attacks his mind, veiling his ability to sense her presence. He's already aggravated, striking lightning in all directions. Maneuvering around him despite her weakness, Ishka gets in close to tap into his Force energy. She takes it all, using techniques taught to her by the chief sith master. The Sith Master from the unknown world absorbed her Force in much the same way. Padawan Emen is made a withered corpse, flopping to the ground, motionless.

 **10\. 45 minutes after:** The Republic soldiers and jedi have established themselves among some of the corridors of the Sith capital vessel. Master Veshei and HK-47 escaped their gunship, #3, but they had to watch it explode with Tet Ganad still in the cockpit. HK-47, freed from his sworn protection to Tet Ganad, decides to abandon the mission to seek out revenge. Of all the masters he could remember, Tet treated him the most like a friend. Not only did she tolerate his psychotic rants, but during their time on Coruscant HK defended Tet's life against bounty hunters looking for revenge after her time on Nar Shaddaa. While repairing HK after the fact, Tet showed considerably more skill at maintaining its systems than any master before. Tet was more than a master, she was a trustworthy companion.

Master Veshei runs into a corridor, the echoes of gunfire bouncing off the walls. Master Veshei can't find HK-47, she's alone. She psychically contacts Jedi Knight Isai, Master Jisis, and Master Bes. Ugen Meda is with these three jedi, on the other side of the hanger bay. They decide to head in deeper, trying to lead the terrified Republic troops against the ceaseless dangers of this war-torn vessel. Master Veshei follows as best she can with no help along the way. Master Bes can't find Padawan Emen within the Force; he assumes the worst. As for Ishka, her energy is deep in the **engineering sector** of the ship. Perhaps she sensed out the Three Masters, their energy emanating from this same area.

In the engineering sector, Padawan Ishka has managed to isolate one of the Emperor's Masters to challenge. Ten of them had chased her to engineering, but the Three Masters attempted to recapture her for themselves. She escaped, but was followed. Their battle is evenly matched, Ishka overestimating her power. Padawan Emen's life force brought her back to a rehabilitated state; her mage powers work well against the Emperor's Master. She doesn't have a lightsaber, so she draws as much life force as possible from the negative energy festering in the vessel to stave off exhaustion. The Emperor's Master does so as well, and the Sith in general draw from the energy. The negative energy is produced by the amount of murder taking place. The amount of dead aboard now rolling into the 10,000-20,000 range, the vessel is compressed with dark side energy.

 **11.** Republic forces inside don't know when reinforcements will arrive, so they organize as best they can for the mission. The Jedi Company (Except Tet who passed away, and HK who defected, 9/11 left), under Master Jisis's command, consult notes provided by Peep. He lived in one of these older capital vessels, and made sure the entire jedi company knew specifics about navigating its structure. Master Bes felt Ishka's energy in the engineering sector, so the jedi, from the company and not, organize whoever they can and head in deeper. Comms between groups still work, but barely anyone can get a signal back to fleet command. It's not like this makes a difference though; the infighting between rogue and loyal Sith, random prisoners, and the instability of the vessel gradually divides the Republic force. Sith masters travel as a vapor through the ventilation systems, and attack the Republic teams from behind. HK-47, by avoiding combat whenever possible, gets to the engineering sector before anyone.

 **12\. An hour, 5 minutes after battle started:** Among the sea of wires and maintenance corridors leading into the **engineering sector** , HK-47 remains hidden. He can hear ensuing battles down every corridor, but the loudest comes from an Emperor's Master and Padawan Ishka, still battling at an even level. The Three Masters are nowhere to be seen, but HK-47 only knows about them in an offhand manner, only aware that they kidnapped Ishka and Emen. Master Bes also mentioned through the comm channel that the Three Masters should already be down here. HK-47 doesn't know that Emen is dead, but he doesn't care. Only the death of his master matters; HK blames Tet's death on Padawan Ishka because she's the reason they came here in the first place.

The closest jedi to the **engineering sector** are **Jedi Knight Isai** and **Master Jisis** , but they are not close enough to enter the ongoing battle. **Master Bes** and **Ugen** **Meda** are stuck fighting with a team of soldiers and jedi against dark jedi, while **Master Veshei** heads toward Master Bes. Padawan Ishka continues to fight alone, HK 47 watching her to learn how she fights.

 **13.** The Republic fleet, though battered, makes another attack as little by little more ships from Coruscant arrive to aid the conflict. Completely invested, the Republic military wants to end the conflict here and now. This could be their one chance to kill the Emperor, and end the war. From both sides damaged ships flee the battle, and the disorganization leaves the rogue Sith capital vessel open to Sith and Republic gunships alike. #1 with **Peep, his two guards,** and **Master Vol** prepare to depart the Republic capital vessel. The Supreme Sith capital vessel makes its first aggressive move in the battle, leading a contingent into the flank of the Republic line. This quickly turns the battle from an even fight to a loss for the Republic. Incoming reinforcements don't impair the problem, unable to compensate for the disorganization of the whole fleet. The Sith fleet is disorganized too but they have the advantage of their Emperor leading some of their ship. Coruscant will be open to invasion if they win.

 **14\. 1 hour, 15 minutes after the battle started:** Gunship #1 arrives inside the Sith capital vessel hanger bay, barely avoiding the attack of Sith fighter craft. These new gunships enter the fray with a new goal; instead of coming to find Padawan Ishka, they want to evacuate anyone they can before the Republic fleet retreats. Instead of carrying 25 passengers, each carry ten at most. What this new group of gunships doesn't know, just like the gunships before them, is how much damage the hangers sustained. Gunships from both sides go in but have to leave since there's nowhere left to land, the floor covered in fire. Gunship #1 opens the back hatch, and **Master Vol** jumps out. Alone and concerned for his fellow jedi, **Master Vol** runs into one of the thirty entrances of the hanger bay. If he's left behind so be it, all that matters is fighting alongside his fellow jedi. He looks for **Master Bes** through the Force, finds him, and heads in his direction. **Peep** looks longingly at Master Vol, wanting more than anything to leave the gunship so he may find a way to escape. The fire golem from before is nowhere to be seen.

Instead of being shot down, Republic and Sith gunships fly around each other while entering and exiting the hanger bay. Some gunships get trapped toward the back of the flaming hanger bay and stall out, while others crash against each other, the debris, or the walls veiled by smoke. Another gunship accidentally clips the wing of gunship #1, causing it to crash. **Peep** crawls out with his life, as does **one of the guards** who chases after him into a hallway (8/11 left, two dead, HK defected). Handcuffed behind his back and unable to defend himself, Peep looks for a way to escape.

The fire golem went to the **engineering sector** , killing anyone along its path. **Master Jisis** and **Jedi Knight Isai** are already there, but **Master Bes** and **Ugen Meda** don't reach them in time. **Master Veshei** is close behind Master Bes and Ugen Meda, the fire golem hot on her tail. **Master Vol** heads toward engineering behind the path of the fire golem, witnessing the damage it creates after the fact. He wants to get to Master Bes before the fire golem does.

 **15.** Master Jisis and Jedi Knight Isai arrive in the engineering sector; Padawan Ishka and the Emperor's Master sense them but are too focused on fighting each other. They sense the Three Masters too, but they've been too busy fighting to find Ishka. Jedi Knight Isai feels unqualified to fight a sith master and Ishka; he wants to wait for Master Bes and Master Veshei. Master Jisis argues they may not have the time to wait for them, that the vessel is falling apart as they speak. This needs to end here and now, for all the jedi killed today and during the prison break. In his mind Jisis thinks of himself, however, that returning home as the killer of an enemy Master Veshei could not would make him grand master again. Ishka and the Emperor's Master feed off Isai's fear, for a moment stopping the fight to discuss killing Isai instead. Such an easy source of Force energy, they can't help but indulge themselves. They charge through the engineering sector toward where they 'feel' Isai is located, and HK-47 follows.

The Three Masters throw off their attackers, and make their way to Ishka with the Emperor's Masters on their tail. The fire golem heads toward her as well. As fast as they can, at times cutting holes through their vessel to do so, the Three Masters make their way to her. Once again only Sith gunships start entering the rogue Sith capital vessel, one of which carrying the Emperor himself.

 **17:** **1 hour, 20 minutes after start of battle:** **Master Veshei** catches up to **Ugen Meda** and **Master Bes** , warning of the fire golem. They all sense it, even the non-Force sensitives. The walls and floor steam with heat, their boot bottoms melt, sweat running in their eyes. Coming around a corner, the fire golem throws baseball-sized chunks of lava down the hall. Anyone tired spurs themselves fast again, lava rocks filling the hallway, melting the walls and floors. Master Bes, Master Veshei and the two jedi stop to create a Force barrier to block the lava. Pieces make it through and hits a jedi. Rearing in pain, the injured jedi hits the ground as soldiers try to nudge the molten lava off her flesh with the butts of their guns. The Force barrier can't hold much longer against the ever-increasing pile of lava leaning against it, but the jedi have accomplished their goal. The floors and walls melt through completely, and the hallway to collapses in on itself. Master Bes and another jedi carry away the injured one, while Master Veshei uses the Force to keep the hall stable long enough for them to escape. The fire golem tries to burn through the wall of debris it created, while the jedi and soldiers continue toward the **engineering sector**. Master Veshei and Bes can sense the danger Master Jisis faces, they **race ahead of their team (plus another jedi)** to get there in time.Meanwhile, **Master Vol** runs into the fire golem before it could burn through the wall of debris. The fire golem turns around, one arm still firing lava at the debris while it whips another at Master Vol. He escapes, choosing to go around which takes more time. Master Vol can feel the Emperor nearby, not just from the golem, and picks up his pace.

 **Peep** stops running, and checks behind him. The **1 guard** isn't there anymore, and he figures the closest private hanger bay might have a craft left with a lightspeed-capable hyperdrive. He needs to get to the operation control room situated above this hanger, and somehow remove his handcuffs. Listening for danger, Peep can hear fighting from all sides. Aboard the vessel, the fighting has only increased since the arrival of Republic gunships. Peep gets back on the move, he knows the guard will eventually track him down because of a tracking chip under his skin. The 1 guard volunteered for this mission, but at this point he regrets his decision. The death of his partner, barely surviving a crash landing, this mission has turned out to be more dangerous than he thought. Back when he was just sitting in a cargo ship while the jedi meditated, HK-47 was prodding Peep endlessly with threats, sarcasm, and belittlement. The guard thought HK-47 was going to kill Peep at some point, but now it seems he will have to take that liberty.

 **18.** Padawan Ishka and one of the Emperor's Masters charge at **Master Jisis** and **Jedi Knight Isai**. Padawan Ishka is no equal to Master Jisis, but she's more powerful than Isai by a significant margin. Hitting him with a psychic attack first, she hopes to make the jedi freeze in his tracks. Weaker with Force and lightsaber techniques, but specialized in mental Force powers, Isai doesn't lose control to Ishka's manipulation. While Isai hangs on to his mind through sheer fortitude, he stands in place, stiff, unable to move. Ishka can use psychic abilities while focusing on a physical fight, but Isai lacks this ability. She can't use battle meditation while fighting, however, but this crucial skill means little to her now that she can indulge in battle. Lightsaber drawn but his arm stiff in place, Isai relies on Master Jisis to protect him. Attacking Ishka's mind while deflecting incoming lightsaber strikes from her and the Emperor's Master, Jisis tries to balance the fight. Ishka lets off bolts of lightning at them but Master Jisis deflects these while continually striking at the Emperor's Master, maintaining pressure on his enemy. Fighting a sith master as an equal brought Ishka a sense of pride, but her ego disrupts her ability to realize she still must fear the strongest of either side in the Force. Master Jisis outmatches her, but Ishka underestimates him by focusing on Isai. Too greedy to back down from the fight, the Emperor's Master and Ishka start to get impatient. Master Jisis is confident he can wait for help; the surprise attack having failed.

Padawan Ishka gets prodded psychically by the Three Masters, who try to convince her to rejoin them. They assume her affirmative response is a lie, but the fact is they need her. They'll take her no matter what side she's on, they just need an opportunity. They're on their way, which adds to the frustration for Ishka who wants to claim Isai's Force energy before they take it for themselves.

 **19\. 1 hour 30 minutes: Master Veshei, Master Bes,** and another jedi arrive the same time the Three Masters do. Neither side exchanges words, but the Sith on three different sides (the Emperor's Master, the Three, and Ishka on her own) work together against the jedi at the start of the fight. Emperor's Masters, those following the Three Masters through the vessel, join the fight. **Master Jisis** continues to protect **Jedi Knight Isai** , but this becomes more difficult as the fight continues. An Emperor's Master was supposed to take Ishka by force, but attacking her now could just as well kill her as leave her in the hands of the enemy. With so much interference, they decide to wait for the Emperor. The Three Masters and jedi can feel the Emperor's approach, so the Three Masters focus more on the Emperor's Masters than the jedi. **Ugen Meda,** the maimed jedi,and the few soldiers from Master Bes's team shortly after him, but Master Bes tells them to leave while they still can. One of the Emperor's Masters gives chase to them as they retreat down a hallway. Master Bes hasn't had the opportunity to reason with Padawan Ishka; it's been months since he's seen her. She's changed dramatically, no longer his padawan, Bes doesn't have the opportunity to ponder the situation. All he can do now is fight, exchanging blows with her throughout the fight. Bes knows the mission has grown more and more desperate, that time is running out.

 **20\. 1 hour 35 minutes: Master Bes** realizes he might not make it out alive, let alone capture his padawan. **Jedi Knight Isai** , the weakest Force user in the room, dies at the hand of one of the Emperor's Masters **(7/11 left, 3 dead and HK defected)**. A few of the Emperor's Masters die, and it appears the fight has reached a stalemate. The Three Masters beckon Padawan Ishka to join them, but she admits only the Emperor can give her the power she needs. Ishka shows a flicker of sympathy for the jedi she knew not so long ago, warning the jedi they will die too if they don't leave the vessel. Master Bes says there's still a chance that all the suffering can be undone, but Ishka says no. Heartbroken, he charges at her. The Emperor's Masters rush to her protection, the other jedi back up Bes. The Three Masters try to pick off members from both sides, killing the one unnamed jedi who accompanied Bes and Ugen. **Master Bes (6/11 left, 4 dead and HK defected)** dies as well, surrounded by Ishka and the Emperor's Masters in an emotionally compromised state. Outnumbered and momentarily cut off from his fellow masters, the sith masters overpower him. Having witnessed the death of her father figure, Ishka has cut the final connection to her past. More Sith than ever before, Ishka feels both guilt and relief. The jedi had an opportunity to escape, but chose death instead. Though in her heart she didn't want it to end this way, she's glad it's almost over. Everyone is in a weakened state; now seems the best time to escape. This is when the fire golem arrives, **Master Vol** close behind it.

 **21\. Peep** reaches a private hanger bay, avoiding the fighting along the way. To Peep, the operation control room overlooking the locked down hanger looks like his ticket to freedom. After the systems are activated, he builds workarounds for the security codes he doesn't have and tries to open the hanger. The **1 guard** catches up to him, pointing his gun and demanding Peep lay face down on the floor. Peep tries to reason with him; they're all going to die unless they find a way off the vessel. The 1 guard believes Peep just wants to survive, but considers if just him and Peep come back alive then he'll lose his job or even end up in prison too. It would look like he and Peep conspired in forming an escape plan while their team was killed. No, no one boards a ship until they find survivors to come with them. On all Republic frequencies, they send out a message calling for extraction at their specific hanger bay. As Peep unlocks the hanger doors, the 1 guard keeps an eye outside the operation control room for any survivors, or possible threats.

 **22\. 1 hour 45 minutes after:** The fire golem's presence shakes the morale of both jedi and dark jedi; even the Emperor's Masters fear for their lives. At everyone, even Padawan Ishka, the fire golem shoots lava all over the room. The jedi and dark jedi try to block this magma with their force powers. They blow wind at the lava to make it break up into smaller rocks, form Force barriers in front of themselves and under their feet, or divert the rocks back towards the fire golem. Everything surrounding the jedi and dark jedi; the walls, fallen friends and enemies, the wiring of the engineering sector, all melts under lava. Afraid the room itself would collapse, they ran. **Master Vol** watches through the doorway as a room full of jedi melts away in a pit of fire. He expects the Emperor is close since his presence has only grown stronger, he doesn't know what to do. **HK-47** moves deeper into engineering when he can't tell where Padawan Ishka went amidst the chaos. Peep's signal transmits to HK-47, realizing that a method of escape exists he decides to take it. Fighting the jedi would undoubtedly lead to his death, better to take her life on more favorable ground. Master Vol gets the signal as well, but decides to track Padawan Ishka and stay with the mission to avenge Bes. **Ugen Meda** , having fled the engineering sector with a few soldiers and a wounded jedi, watches as a lone Emperor's Master overpowers them. Ugen Meda flees through the ventilation system as the Emperor's Master gives chase to the last soldiers of her team. She receives Peep's signal, and starts crawling through the ducts towards the private hanger bay. **Master Veshei** and **Master Jisis** pick up the signal as well while running from the engineering sector. Master Veshei wants to meet Peep; they've lost and they know it. Master Jisis argues this will ruin their reputation, that they will be walking corpses among the Republic if not exiled outright by the Jedi Order. Master Veshei says they're doomed if they stay, they don't have a choice. Master Jisis doesn't care. He doesn't admit what he wants, but he leaves Veshei all the same. Whether he can take Ishka's life or not, he wants to fight. There's been too much sacrifice already, Master Veshei decides she can't follow. She fights her way to the hanger bay, while Master Jisis finds his destiny.

 **23.** **1 hour 50 minutes after:** **Master Jisis** runs into the fire golem amid the corridors heading towards Padawan Ishka's energy. Building up his Force energy, Jisis creates a wind tunnel in front of him. This power wouldn't have worked well in the big engineering room, but in this close quarters hallway it may kill the fire golem. Its skin crusts over, but it continues to move, turning around to fire rocks covered in lava. Each one on approach dries into small rocks, spraying the space outside the wind tunnel pushing it back. The finger-tips of the fire golem begin to fragment as well, but the golem regains its composure suddenly, drawing from the trail of heat it left behind. Before it could be killed, the fire golem hurls its body at Master Jisis. It melts in a trail of rock for the most part, but the molten core beneath its layers remained untouched. On top of Master Jisis, the molten core passes through layers of dirt until it presses against his chest, burning through into the flooring **(5/11 left, HK defected)**. His screams echo down the hallway as **Master Veshei** and **Vol** feel his energy pass into nothingness. The molten core sinks deeper, level by level of the Sith capital vessel.

Master Veshei has given up hope. Ishka's energy is distant and veiled in darkness. More Emperor's Masters and no doubt the Three Masters fight over her, a fight that will end once the Emperor arrives. It dawns on her that everyone that came onto this vessel has been abandoned, that few modes of escape remain. She contacts Master Vol, warning him to head to the hanger bay before it's too late.

 **24.** **Ugen Meda** and **HK-47** head to the hanger bay. Master Veshei's energy to **Master Vol** feels panicked and soaked in fear, convincing him to double back as fast as possible. Master Bes's death put him on a rampage, but now it was time to give in. He could feel the dark side breathing life into the Sith, and dissipating any luck or energy for the light. Nothing left to do but run.

 **25\. 2 Hours after:** **Ugen Meda** and **HK 47** reach the private hanger bay at the same time, but HK doesn't introduce himself. Instead it hides among the other craft, observing the survivors. A few Republic soldiers are there already, and HK watches as Ugen Meda approaches them. She reunites with the **1 guard** and **Peep** ,but it's by no means a hopeful exchange. Their reunion is cut short by HK-47, who attacks the unaware soldiers with a blaster pistol in each hand. HK kills them before they have a chance to shoot back. Then, it walks up the ramp of the hyperspeed-capable craft around which the survivors had converged. Peep and Ugen were preparing the craft for flight, their work is interrupted. The 1 guard fires at HK, but he's too panicked to hit his mark. HK-47 shoots a poisoned dart into his neck as his rifle sprays the interior with shots. The poison causes him to choke, HK drags his body out of the cockpit while the Ugen and Peep watch **(4/11)**. It used the dart to avoid harming the control systems, and its pilots. When it returns, it asks which of them know how to fly the craft. When both respond in the affirmative, HK-47 pulls Peep by his neck, drags him out of the craft, throws him among the other dead, and punches him to death **(2/11, 7 dead, HK defected, Ugen Meda prisoner)**.

 **26.** **2 hours 5 minutes after:** Their ship departs as **Master Veshei** arrives. She scans the fleeing ship upon seeing the bodies of fallen Republic soldiers and Peep. The guards aren't on board either, no one except Ugen Meda. This situation presents too many questions, it rubs her the wrong way. **Master Vol** is still in the vessel though; she tells him to hurry before the Sith compromise the hanger. The molten lava core, from the fire golem, finally falls through the hull of the Sith capital vessel. Multiple holes have punched through this vessel already, but the molten lava core created so much internal damage that the life support systems fail. The vessel grows colder every minute, everyone onboard suffers. The jedi and dark jedi suffer the least because they can control the conditions of their body through the Force. This allows them to survive in the vacuum of space, hold their breath for days, and survive breathing toxic chemicals. Master Vol tells Master Veshei that he won't make it to the hanger in time, that she should leave without him. Master Veshei knows that Vol is correct despite wanting to argue the fact, that soon the barriers from empty space will fail from the damage to the vessel. At that point, no one will be able to escape. Master Veshei wishes him luck, and climbs into one of the small craft. She abandons the Sith capital vessel, and fights the Sith fighters among the fleeing Republic fleet. Her ship has a hyperdrive, Veshei was counting on having to escape on her own **(1/11, 7 dead, HK defected, Ugen Meda escaped but captive while Master Veshei escaped with her liberty)**.

 **27.** The Emperor, his Emperor's Masters, and Padawan Ishka united kill the Three Masters. They resembled the first successful defection from the true Sith, operating without concern for the military. On the Emperor's orders, Padawan Ishka uses her battle meditation instead of fighting much to her frustration. After their victory, they leave the vessel as quickly as possible. Few hanger bays remain in operation, either their shields failing or fire ripping out their insides. Chances are the slower, normal Sith soldiers will be left behind in the cold while the dark jedi escape in awaiting Sith gunships.

 **28\. 2 hours 20 minutes after the battle:** **Master Vol** gets to the hanger bay, but the shields powered to separate the interior of the hanger bay from space have failed. The small craft in the hanger bay were sucked out, but Master Vol can still sense Veshei somewhere in space. Knowing she got away safe gives him hope, that one of the best jedi in the Order will be spared. The jedi will live on. He tries to commandeer a Sith gunship in another hanger, but he dies fighting the dark jedi **(0/11, 8 dead, HK defected, Ugen Meda and Master Veshei escape)**. Padawan Ishka leaves the Sith capital vessel on the Emperor's private transport craft. Some hanger bays full of dark jedi and Sith gunships get sucked out into space as more of the hanger bay shields fail, but the Emperor doesn't care. He achieved his mission, and will go on to reap the rewards. Whether to retreat remained under debate among Republic command and the Grand Jedi Council, but in the end the decision fell to circumstance. One by one, each ship either succumbed to the battle or chose to flee on their own admission.

29\. The Republic fleet retreats to Coruscant, and the Sith follow. The Sith fighters that stay behind look to clear out stragglers, but most of these craft lack a hyperdrive. They were doomed anyway, but Veshei fights as hard as she could. After several minutes, even these craft begin to leave on a smaller frigate, and she remains the last of a few wayward craft isolated among the ruins.


	6. Part 5: Epilogue

Part 5: Epilogue

 **1.** 1 month: The Emperor, after destroying the few Republic ships who returned to Coruscant, commands his fleet in the bombardment of Coruscant from orbit. The centralization of the Republic military as a galactic influence deteriorates with the deaths of many of their finest generals, jedi masters, almost the whole Grand Jedi Council, and destruction of prized jedi relics. A portion of the population dies in the slaughter, and planets under Republic control fall under fear. One by one they join the Emperor, an enemy no one can stop because of how well concealed Padawan Ishka, his secret weapon, remained kept. Her battle meditation makes the Sith an unbeatable power feared by all. It's a paradise for the Emperor who sees himself as the embodiment of a high point in the greater Sith legacy.

HK-47 spends this time finding out where the Emperor hid Padawan Ishka. Master Veshei doesn't return to the Republic, instead fleeing to her home-world, Kashyyyk in a self-imposed exile.

 **2.** **After this 1 month:** HK 47 finds Padawan Ishka's hiding place, the planet of Ryloth in a palace among the aristocracy. The Ryloth aristocracy would have noticed Ishka's identity as the Emperor's apprentice, but he placed a veil over the planet that compromises how they see Ishka. To them, she's just another foreign noble with an estate on Ryloth. The Emperor shrouded Ishka's energy from any dark jedi or jedi that seek her, ensuring her safety. HK-47 found this palace by torturing the dark jedi and Sith agents who helped create this seemingly perfect plan to hide Ishka. This whole period Ugen Meda flew it around, aware that she could be killed at any moment. HK-47 never leaves her alone long enough to escape, but it's likely he would find her either way.

She lands the small craft far away from the palace, and HK-47 without warning kills her. It then blows up the craft, assuming the mission a one-way trip, and makes his way to the palace. Legions of Sith troopers protect her estate, many of which capable of fighting expert dark jedi. They would have tried to stop HK-47, but he sneaks by undetected. He finds Padawan Ishka alone in her private quarters, the walls covered in paintings from Ryloth's antiquity. Padawan Ishka throws at the assassin droid all the powers she has. Her electricity bounces off his shields, her mage powers weakened with all her daily focus on battle meditation. HK-47 kills her but loses an arm and a leg while doing so. Her guards burst into the room, see her dead body, and blast HK-47 to pieces.

 **3\. The End** : Because the Emperor loses his secret weapon and everyone finds out, the Sith turn on each other over a period of **10 years**. Infighting leads to the death of the Emperor, and the Republic and Jedi Order have a chance to rebuild. Remnants of the Sith in the **last few years** of this **10-year** period come to fight the Republic once again; the outcome leaves the Sith destroyed, and their new Sith droid manufacturing planet lost somewhere in space. Master Veshei returned to the Order for this war, but even with her experienced leadership the Order survives this war in a weaker state than before. The Jedi have lost too many knights, and the Republic resents the jedi for bringing them into another war between Force users. Though the Jedi Order is reborn, few stand to guard its future.


End file.
